History of ISIC

The International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) is an international non-profit member association established in 1949 and is the governing body of ISIC. In the 1950s, student leaders in a post WWII era had envisioned a concept of a single internationally recognised student identity document to promote international understanding through international travel and educational exchange opportunities

Introduced in 1968, ISIC was made a reality to facilitate this vision and designed to create opportunities and aid travel for students through access to information, support systems and discounts and benefits. Today, ISIC not only offers these services but a range of innovative uses in different countries such as co-branding, bank and credit card features and other high-tech card capabilities.

This supported the ISIC Association's ground-breaking mission statement: "Increasing international understanding through the promotion of travel and exchange opportunities among students, young people and the academic community".
 
Students automatically bought an ISIC card to give them access to discounted airfares. These included Student Air Travel Association tickets specifically for full-time students.

 Whilst ISIC continued to be internationally recognised as the student ID, the growth of internet usage meant that students had new and easy access to low-cost airfares. Inevitably, this has lead to some decrease in travel-related ISIC card sales in the last few years. 

The Future of the ISIC Card

 
In many countries, today's ISIC card has gone through a transition. Next to its long standing and solid reputation as the only internationally recognised student ID, the ISIC is now also considered an all-round student lifestyle card. Its members still enjoy discounts and services on flights and public transport. On top of that, they also benefit from discounts related to museums, shopping and entertainment – at home and abroad.